An Innocent Facade
by princessofthedeadsheep
Summary: Part 3 of the Together In Hell series- Reid works to make sure that no one sees what's really going on, but it never goes according to plan.


**Alright! so this may be the last of this series, at least for now. I've got so many stories going, it kills me, really. This one is hopefully what I was going for- I'm trying to show that Reid isn't exactly the healthiest of people at this point, but he's basically just forgetting about it. **

_**Don't stalk people. Please. It isn't actually romantic at all. Don't do it. Trying to get that across is harder than I first pegged it, but hopefully it worked.**_

Diana, despite all she had suffered, still had an air of innocence surrounding her. She didn't really understand, Reid thought, all that went on. He wasn't inclined to tell her. In truth, he'd rather she didn't know that on those same nights she'd feel the presence of her 'papa' retuck her into bed (her breath hardening with fear before Aaron would calm her down and remind her that was over now), he too felt Aaron's presence, though with a great deal less subtlety.

Aaron was careful not to hurt the girl, not in any way, and Reid's own reluctance at having her around soon gave way. He had to admit there was something about the child that just felt so natural and right. He warmed up to being called dad surprisingly fast, he noted. There was something about the child that led him to feel both protective of her and comforted by her in turn.

Only a week after she'd arrived, Aaron had visited him in the night, waking him up when he was handcuffed to the headboard, his body under siege as Aaron used him mercilessly. He'd long ago given himself over to the feelings that had once made him guilty, that he had once analyzed as part of being a victim. He had to stop. There was no use in trying, he thought. No use in fighting. When Aaron was done and they lay together, Spencer unhandcuffed and not bothering to move, they finally spoke of Diana.

"Are you sure I can really be a father to her?" Reid finally asked.

"I have every confidence that you will be what she needs," Aaron responded. "She just needs someone to take care of her and to understand her. We can do that." Spencer did not dare to disagree. When he woke again, Aaron was gone, and Diana shyly showed him a new dress she had found hanging on her doorknob. He told her he thought she'd look pretty in it and she smiled. She ended up wearing it that day.

He had taken great pains to ensure none of the team had any idea about her. He didn't dare let them know about what happened. He knew what they would think, what they did think. Their former boss was a sore subject, and he was certain they all wondered, on some level, why he was the one that seemed to be the greatest focus in Hotch's criminal life. He'd stopped bringing it up altogether, though before he had done, before they had come and tried to gather evidence when Hotch had broken into Reid's house and left food or other things, but they never found anything. Even if they had, it hardly would have allowed them to catch Hotch. They knew who he was. That didn't allow them to catch him.

Taking care of Diana took a lot of forethought. He had found the most pressing matter was to adjust for her coping mechanisms. Diana probably didn't even realize some of the ones she had, like the way she always scanned the room when she entered, the way she immediately deferred to his judgment on what she should wear each day, unconsciously making sure she always had his approval for every little thing she did, from eating to reading she always asked if she could. He feared the day she broke a rule and he'd have to punish her, because he knew what sort of punishments she expected and he knew his word that he would use none of those wasn't enough. He also arranged a schedule because he feared how she'd cope without one, when she'd been used to having one for so long (she still insisted on helping with meals, and he'd given up trying to deter her completely from it).

He had to make arrangements with someone who wouldn't know there were problems with a stalker, who wouldn't question where he'd gotten a little girl and believe the child was his daughter. He had to avoid people asking too many questions. He had to avoid the team finding out about her for as long as possible (he hoped indefinitely).

That, unfortunately, wasn't an option. During one of their cases about ten months after Diana had become a part of his home, Reid received a call. Diana and Ms. Thurmond had been in a car accident, and Diana needed someone to come pick her up from the hospital. Even if Reid left right that moment he wouldn't be getting back for hours. So he did the only thing he could.

"Goddess of All Knowable Things at Your Service," Garcia answered cheerfully.

"Garcia, I have to ask a major favor of you," he said, taking a deep breath to prepare for what he needed to say. "I need you to go to the hospital to pick up my daughter. Her and her caretaker have been in an accident, and you're the only one of her emergency contacts that can get to her right now." There was a beat of absolute silence.

"What?"

"I made you an emergency contact for my daughter in the case that neither I nor her normal caretaker were able to get to her, and that's what has happened. Look, Garcia, I really can't explain right now. She'll be able to explain enough so that you'll understand. Please Garcia, she's probably really scared." He knew it was harsh to use her sympathy, but frankly, he didn't care.

"Alright, tell me where she is."

"You're a lifesaver Garcia," he said, before giving her the information she needed. When he next saw Garcia, she was on the webcam that they sometimes used when contacting her with a frown on her face, and she was describing what she had found. From the angle she had the camera, it wasn't impossible to see Diana, who was working on something in the background. Luckily, the others all were preoccupied, and so didn't see her.

Still, his jumpiness and overall tense demeanor meant the others were quickly becoming aware that something had happened, and since what had happened to Hotch, they had all become much more forceful about making sure the others were okay. After about the third time he'd been questioned about it, he'd lost his patience and yelled at them. Now, they were all paying even more attention to him. It was irritating, on top of nerve wracking.

When they called Garcia later that night to try and see about the progress she'd made so far, they were surprised to hear a girl's voice answer. "Penelope Garcia's office, she can't come to the phone at the moment but she will be back soon, if you would like to hold."

"Who are you?" Morgan asked incredulously.

"Are you going to hold or not?" she snapped back.

"Diana!" Reid couldn't stop himself. "Watch your tone."

"I apologize," she responded stiffly. Reid knew why- he had never scolded her like that before. Rarely was she ever disrespectful or disobedient, as they had previously gotten her in much trouble with her previous father. He hoped it was a sign she was getting more comfortable, but more likely it had been more of a fear response than anything.

"It's alright, just be more careful, especially when you don't know who you're talking to or who's listening. What if that had been our boss? You could have gotten me or Garcia in trouble." There was more silence before he heard a quieter response.

"Sorry dad, I didn't mean to get you or Aunt Penny in trouble."

"Aunt Penny?"

"That's what she wants me to call her."

"Hold up," Morgan interrupted, "what is going on here?"

"Ah," Reid winced, knowing their cover was blown. "Diana is my daughter. I had to have Garcia get her from the hospital. She was in an accident today."

"I didn't realize how fast 20 miles was until the car crashed," Diana added helpfully. "It's faster than I would have guessed."

"You have a daughter?" JJ asked, looking hurt. Reid just looked away from her and nodded.

"I haven't been living with dad for very long. We're still adjusting to it." Diana tried to keep her voice calm, though there was an undertone of nervousness that more than one in the room heard. "Aunt Penny's coming back now. She'll be here in three... two... one... and here she is."

"Goddess of Knowledge at your service," Garcia chirped merrily, forcing them to return to the case at hand. Still, Reid knew he wouldn't be able to dodge the questions forever. He didn't even make it an hour before Rossi managed to get him alone.

"Alright, what happened with the kid?" he asked, Reid stuck in the passenger seat for a twenty minute car ride.

"I don't know what you mean," Reid said mildly. Rossi snorted.

"Sure you do. This kid hasn't been living with you for that long, she gets fearful when we question her living with you, and we both know Aaron would have to have something to do with her. He wouldn't leave himself out of this if she were your biological kid, and if she isn't then I'm willing to bet he had something to do with you adopting her."

Reid was silent for a few moments. "Aaron dropped her off after killing her father. He said she was destined to be ours and made all the arrangements. We both know he wouldn't take no for an answer, and she wasn't so bad off that she needed to be hospitalized or anything. At least, not at the time."

"And... you and Aaron think you're qualified to help an abused child?" Rossi asked after a moment. Reid gave a bitter laugh.

"Like it would matter either way. Honestly? No. I don't think I'm at all qualified to help Diana, but at this point, I'm not willing to give her up. It'd do more harm than good, and she's already been forced to adjust to too many different things in a short period of time. She's more delicate than she's willing to admit."

"You could have told us," Rossi turns to look at him after he pulls to a stop at a red light. "We would have helped you, you know. We'll still help you." Reid didn't respond, and Rossi let it rest.

When they returned to Quantico, Diana was sleeping in his chair, her arm in a cast and a bruise on her forehead, but otherwise completely unharmed. She woke with barely a touch to her shoulder, jolting awake as though she'd been shoved out of the chair. The fleeting look of fear was not yet completely gone, but she was quicker to mask it, quicker to allow it to dissipate. She smiled up at him as she saw him, her mind already becoming appeased with his presence.

"Hi dad. How was the case?" she asked him as though it were any other day and he were just coming home from work.

"It was fine," he answered, placing a hand on her head and drawing it down the back of her hair. She had learned not to flinch at the touch so long as she saw it coming. He knew what she was doing. She was trying to present herself as normal, to present their relationship as normal. He complied if only to put her at ease. "We can go home in a couple of minutes, alright?" she nodded, and pretended she didn't wish to leave right then. He introduced her to the team, his hand firmly on her back, and he could feel a slight tremble as she smiled and introduced herself.

The team, for their part, managed to keep from interrogating her and were otherwise friendly. He cuts the introductions short to take her home, siting that she must be tired and she hurriedly agreed. They have to wait for the train to get home, so they ended up sitting together late that night. She has become more comfortable around him, enough to lean into his shoulder as her tiredness overtakes her. Diana doesn't speak until the platform has enough people that no one will care of what she has to say.

"Do you think they'll take me away?" she asked. Her voice was blank, something he never liked to hear.

"No, I don't think so."

"But they don't think I'm your daughter."

"It doesn't matter," he hastened to say, but he knew it wasn't what she wanted or needed to hear. "Even if they decide that they're going to investigate it, your papa has arranged it so that you can't be taken from me. I don't want you to go either." She didn't reply, and only clutched his hand with her uninjured one. The two did not talk again that night.

The team took it better than he had expected. They treated Diana well when they were in her presence, though Reid had to go through all sorts of different interrogations ("Morgan I've interrogated suspects with you, I'm aware of when you're using the techniques on me, and I don't appreciate it" "This is the worst version of bad cop/good cop the two of you have ever done") about Hotch's involvement. He couldn't just say "Yes he comes by and takes Diana and myself away occasionally for days at a time." Or "Oh yes, he still visits my apartment all the time, sometimes daily." His team, however, didn't see it that way.

He saw where they were coming from, of course. He had thought that way too, once, but he couldn't keep it up. It was driving him insane, and he wasn't ashamed to admit to it. The situation did not change, and so his attitude had. Was it wrong? Probably. Was it bad? Probably for his overall mental health, yes. Once he'd accepted the fact that Hotch would come whenever he wanted regardless and that Hotch would never hurt him, well, it had managed to calm him suitably enough. Living in fear would do nothing for him.

So now, when he saw Hotch in his house, cheerfully chatting with Diana about a book she had read recently as the two worked on a meal, he didn't even consider calling the team, or the police, or anyone else. Instead he locked the door, smiling as he heard them chatter, swung into the kitchen and asked "hey, what's for dinner?"

**We hope he won't hurt you Reid, we sure hope...**


End file.
